Lug nut remover

ABSTRACT

A tool for the loosening and removal of the lug nuts of automobile and truck wheels. In one embodiment, the tool has a rotatable nut receiving socket to be turned manually through a gear arrangement to loosen tight nuts, and selectively positioned non-rotating stabilizing sockets positioned to engage other lug nuts of the wheel while one nut is being loosened. Another embodiment of the tool provides greater adjustibility.

United States Patent [191 Palatnick et al.

[4 1 Sept. 16, 1975 LUG NUT REMOVER Inventors: Leonard Palatnick, West Nyack,

N.Y.', Robert L. Shiner, Lakewood, NJ.

Leonard Palatnick, West Nyack, NY.

Filed: June 10, 1974 Appl. No.: 477,617

Assignee:

U.S. Cl 81/57.3; 81/5722 Int. Cl. B25B 17/00 Field of Search 81/57.3, 57.22, 57.36,

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 10/1926 Peterson 81/58.l

8/1930 Seidemann 81/58.l

2,069,882 2/1937 Hall 8l/5722 2,444,602 7/1948 81/5722 3,292,464 12/1966 81/5724 3,319,494 5/1967 81/5722 3,650,165 3/1972 Wolfe 8l/58.l

Primary Examiner-James L. Jones, Jr. Attorney, Agent, or F z'rm-Brooks Haidt Haffner & Delahunty [57] ABSTRACT A tool for the loosening and removal of the lug nuts of automobile and truck wheels. In one embodiment, the tool has a rotatable nut receiving socket to be turned manually through a gear arrangement to loosen tight nuts, and selectively positioned non-rotating stabilizing sockets positioned to engage other lug nuts of the wheel while one nut is being loosened. Another embodiment of the tool provides greater adjustibility.

8 Claims, 8 Drawing Figures PATENTED 3,905,254

5 IMHH NIH l l hm 1 LUG NUT REMOVER BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to wrenches, and more particularly to a tool for loosening the lug nuts of vehicle wheels.

2. Description of the Prior Art The lug nuts of vehicle wheels are often difficult to remove. A tight lug nut which has not been loosened for a long time or which has become frozen in place by the accretion of grime or rust requires the application of very high torque in its removal. One difficulty that the user of conventional wrenches often encounters in attempting to loosen tight lug nuts is that the tool slips off the nut because the user is exerting such great efforts to turn the nut that he cannot keep the wrench in the proper position.

Manually operated lug nut tools offering greater mechanical advantage than simple wrenches have been proposed, but such tools tend to be too complex, and hence too expensive for general acceptance. Motor driven tools have been provided for this purpose but such tools are too expensive for wide use, and electrical power is not accessible at every place where it is necessary to remove lug nuts from auto and truck wheels.

US. Pat. No. 3,392,608 represents an attempt to provide a hand-operated lug nut removal tool. The wrench of that patent operates with a chain and sprocket drive that is fairly complex and has a countertorque arrangement to keep the gear box from rotating.

What has been needed is a simple, reliable hand tool that provides sufficient mechanical advantage for the ordinary person to remove tight lug nuts from vehicle wheels.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention provides a manually operated tool for loosening or tightening lug nuts such as those of vehicle wheels. The ordinary wheel has a plurality, usually five or six, of identical lug nuts secured to studs extending parallel to the wheel axis at equally arcuately spaced positions. These lug nuts are conventionally hexagonal and are usually threaded in an opposite sense from the normal direction of rotation of the wheel with which they are associated to prevent loosening during prolonged periods. Accordingly, rotation of the wheel tends to tighten the nuts, so that they become very tightly secured and require great torque to loosen. The tool of the invention has a rotating socket which can be driven clockwise or counterclockwise as required to loosen lug nuts.

In one currently preferred embodiment of the invention, the rotatable socket of the tool of the invention has a hexagonal, nut receiving opening in its head and is fixed on a rotatable shaft for rotation therewith. The shaft of the rotating socket extends from a housing in which the shaft is journalled and carries a concentric gear mounted fixedly on the shaft within the housing. Teeth of this gear engage the teeth of another gear mounted on a drive shaft extending through the middle of the housing. This drive shaft is journalled for rotation with respect to the housing so that it can be rotated by manual turning of a movable handle extending perpendicularly from the drive shaft at the opposite side of the housing from the rotating socket.

The drive shaft can be tubular with a fixed internal rod extending therethrough andsecur ed to a fixed handle for holding the tool in place while the movable handle is turned." The length'of the movable handle, cooperating with 'the'meshed gears, provides considerable mechanical advantage for applying the torque needed to loosen evenl'atightly frozen lug nut.

In order to stabilize the position of the tool during use, sothat th rotating socket cannot slip off the lug nut being loosened, other sockets are provided on shafts extending parallel to the shaft of the rotatable socket. These other sockets are fixed against rotation and have recesses for encompassing other lug nuts of the wheel. Preferably there are two of these stabilizing sockets to provide for very firm positioning of the tool. The stabilizing sockets and the rotatable sockets can be secured to their respective shafts in such a way that they can be removed and replaced with sockets of some other size suitable for reception of lug nuts or any ordinary size.

In another embodiment of the tool of the invention, the two stabilizing sockets and the one rotatable socket are secured to the ends of bent arms extending outwardly and forwardly from three superposed plates. The arcuate spacing of the arms is adjustable by relative rotation of the plates, and after such adjustment the arms can be fixed in position by tightly securing the plates together. The rotatable socket can then be turned with a wrench to loosen a lug nut.

The tool has few moving parts, so by using sturdy materials such as heavy gauge metal for the structural parts a very durable assembly is provided.

These and other features and advantages of the lug nut tool of the invention will be more fully understood from the following detailed description of a preferred embodiment of the tool of the invention, especially when that description is read in conjunction with the accompanying drawing.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING FIG. 1 is an overall view in perspective of the tool of the invention wherein internal parts are shown by shadow lines.

FIG. 2 is a view in section taken along the line 22 of FIG. 1 and looking in the direction of the arrows.

FIG. 3 is a view in perspective of a modified embodiment of the tool of the invention.

FIG. 4 is a detail view in section taken along line 44 of FIG. 3 and looking in the direction of the arrows.

FIG. 5 is a sectional view taken along line 55 of FIG. 3 and looking in the direction of the arrows.

FIG. 6 is a view in section taken along line 66 of FIG. 3 and looking in the direction of the arrows.

FIG. 7 is a view in section taken along line 7-7 of FIG-3 and looking in the direction of the arrows.

FIG. 8 is a view, similar to that of FIG. 2, showing a modified tool according to the invention providing high mechanical advantage.

DETAILED-DESCRIPTION or PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS FIGS. land 2 of the drawing show a preferred embodiment' of the lug tool of the invention, having a housing generally designated by the reference numeral 10 from which lug' bolt engaging elements extend toward the viewer. The housing 10 is shown in the form of a hollow; rounded triangular prism having a front face 11, side walls 12 and a rear face (not illustrated) enclosing a drive arrangement to be described. This housing is preferably made of sturdy metal.

A rod 13 is secured to the front face 11 of the housing at 14 and extends rearwardly through the housing and its rear face perpendicular to the front face 11 to terminate in a handle 15 for gripping by an operator of the tool. As illustrated in the drawing the point 14 is preferably offset somewhat from the center of gravity of the housing front face 11.

A tubular sleeve 16 is mounted around the rod 13 for rotation about the rod 13 and a large gear 20 is coaxially secured to the sleeve 16 within the housing 10 for rotation therewith. The sleeve 16 extends rearwardly through the housing rear wall and at a position spaced from the rear face an arm 21 is fixed to the sleeve 16 for rotation of the sleeve 16 by cranking motion of the arm 21 by means of a handle 22 that extends rearwardly from the outer end of the arm 21. The handle 22 is preferably mounted for rotation on a pin 23 or other suitable means so that an operator of the tool can readily rotate the arm 21 and the sleeve 16 attached thereto, thereby causing rotation of the gear 20. Rearwardly of the point of attachment of the arm 21 to the sleeve 16 there is preferably a bushing 24 between the sleeve 16 and the handle 15. Another bushing is preferably provided around the rod 13 between the gear 20 and the point of attachment 14 of the rod to the housings front face 11.

A shaft 29 is journalled in the housing front face 11 and also in the rear face. This shaft 29 extends parallel to the rod 13 and carries a gear 30 that is considerably smaller than the gear 20. As shown the gear 30 has fewer teeth than the large gear 20 and the teeth of the two gears are in meshing relationship so that when the arm 21, sleeve 16 and gear 20 turn the smaller gear 30 rotates in the opposite direction. The shaft 29 extends forwardly of the housing front face 11 to terminate in a socket fitting 31 for engaging a lug nut. By cranking the arm 21 a user of the tool can apply considerable torque to a lug nut received in a socket 32 of the fitting 31.

Spaced from the socket fitting 31 there are two other lug receiving socket members 33, each of which is mounted on a stud 34 extending parallel to the shaft 29 i and projecting forwardly from the tool front face 11 by the same distance as the shaft 29 so that when the tool is placed in position with the rotating socket fitting 31 fitted over a lug nut to be removed, other lug nuts of a vehicle wheel will be received within sockets of the members 33. The studs 34 and socket members 33 need not be rotatable since they are only for stabilizing of the position of the tool during the loosening or tightening of a lug received by the rotatable socket fitting 31. Accordingly the studs 34 can be fixedly secured to the tool face 11.

The socket members 33 are removably attached to their respective studs 34 so that members 33 with appropriately sized sockets 35 can be selected for use on lug nuts of any size. As shown in the drawing the members 33 can be effectively secured to their studs 34 by means of screws 33a. A set of socket fittings can be provided with the tool. The socket members 33 can also be mounted for rotation, even though they are not driven. For example, since the lug nuts of vehicle wheels are generally hexagonal the sockets 35 can be hexagonal if they can be rotated to receive lug nuts that have not been loosened whatever the orientation of such lugs might be.

The rotatable socket 32 has a hexagonal shape in the embodiment shown for loosening or tightening of conventional hexagonal lug nuts, and like the socket fittings 33, is removably secured by means of a screw 32a.

By providing for three point contact with lug nuts the stability of the tool according to the invention has been assured regardless of how much force the tool user must apply, as in the case of a very tightly frozen lug nut.

It will be seen that once a lug nut has been loosened, the tool can be moved so that the rotatable socket member 31 and the stationary stabilizing socket members 33 overlie different lug nuts. Accordingly, a loosened lug nut is not completely removed until all of the lug nuts of the wheel have been loosened.

Of course, the tool of the invention can also be employed for tightening of lug nuts.

The mechanical advantage offered by the tool of the invention is directly related to the length of the arm 21 which acts as a lever, as well as the ratio between the number of teeth on the gears 20 and 30. A ratio of 5 to 1 between the number of teeth on gear 20 and the number of teeth on the gear 30 is effective. It should be noted that the arm 21 can be made sufficiently long so that great torque can be exerted on lug nut by a person of normal strength. Alternatively, for some applications, the gear arrangement shown can be revised so that a smaller gear drives a larger one to provide greatly increased mechanical advantage. Such an arrangement will be described with respect to FIG 8.

The fact that the sockets 33 and 35 are positioned forwardly of the housing 10 permits easy access to lug nuts of a wheel and the tool can be so oriented that the arm 21 will extend generally horizontally to allow a user to bring essentially his full weight to bear on the handle 22, using just a small amount of force to stabilize the tool by holding the handle 15.

Another embodiment of the tool of the invention is illustrated in' FIGS. 3 7, wherein sockets carried by adjustable arms are employed to stabilize the tool. As shown in FIGS. 3 and 5, the tool generally indicated by reference numeral 40 in FIG. 3 has three superposed plates 41, 42, 43, all circular in plan and preferably of equal size, adjustably secured together by a bolt passing through aligned central holes in the plates 41, 42, 43 and a wing nut 44. When the nut 44 is loosened the plates 4-43 can be rotated independently and then fixed in position by tightening of the nut. Some other means such as a threaded, headed bolt could be used in place of the bolt and nut 44.

Extending radially from the plates 41 and 42 respectively are hollow tubular members 47 and 48. Each of these members 47, 48 internally receives a profiled end 49 of an arm 50, which slidable with respect to the member 47 or 48 for adjustment, but can be locked in adjusted position by means of a screw 51 as shown in FIG. 7. The arms 50 have substantially right angled elbows at 52 and extend forward to terminate in lug nut receiving sockets 53 which can be similar to the sockets 33 of the embodiment of FIGS. 1 and 2. These arms 50 and sockets 53 provide stability as do the stabilizing studs 34 and sockets 33 of the previously described embodiment. Each socket 53 is preferably removably secured to its arm 50 by means of a set screw 69 so that the socket 50 can be removed and replaced with a socket of different shape or size for use with some other kind of lug nut, as best shown in FIG. 6. Also shown in FIGS. 3 and 6 is a butterfly headed screw 70 for tightening the socket 50 in place on a lug nut to be loosened.

The plate 43, shown as the bottom one of the three superposed plates, has a radially extending member 60 terminating at its outer end in ajournal fitting 61 which rotatably holds the end 62 of a rotatably arm 63. Means 68 for releasably holding the arm 68 in the fitting 61 is shown in detail in FIG. 4. The rotatable arm 63 carries a socket 64 that is analogous to the socket 31 of the embodiment shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 in that the socket 64 is turned to loosen a lug nut.

However, in the embodiment of the tool shown in FIG. 3, there are no internal gears. The arm 63 and its socket 64 are turned by means of an ordinary wrench, not illustrated. The wrench employed should be long enough to provide the requisite mechanical advantage to remove a frozenlug nut. To provide a firm grip for turning by means ofa wrench, the arm 63 has a middle portion 66 that is hexagonal in cross section and preferably of substantial size as shown.

The arm 63 and its socket can be mounted for removal from the tool for replacement with a different socket to accommodate lug nuts of various sizes as shown in FIG. 4, or the socket 64 itself can be removably secured to the arm 63 substantially as shown and described with respect to the sockets 33 of the embodiment of FIGS. 1 and 2.

The tool illustrated in FIGS. 3 7 can be readily adjusted for any vehicle wheel by selection of appropriate sockets 64 and/or socket-bearing arms 50, relative rotation of the plates 4143 and sliding adjustment of the arm ends 49 within the tubular members 47 and 48. After locking the adjustable parts into position as previously discussed, the tool can be applied to the lug nuts of a vehicle wheel in a similar manner to that in which the tool of FIGS. 1 and 2 is employed, and the rotatable arm 63 can then be turned by means of a wrench.

The tool shown in FIGS. 3 7 thus has the advantage of great adjustability, but if the tool is intended to be employed for only one arrangement of nuts, say on only one auto or one model of auto, the parts can be kept locked in position after initial adjustment. If desired the tool can be disassembled for storage in a small space, and can, of course, be packed and shipped in disassembled condition.

An embodiment of the tool of the invention affording greater mechanical advantage is shown in FIG. 8. The tool of FIG. 8 is basically similar in overall construction to that of FIGS. 1 and 2, but differs essentially in the reversal of the internal gear arrangement. Thus the tool shown in FIG. 8 has a housing 110, with a front face 111, side walls 112, and a rod 113 terminating in a handle 115.

A tubular sleeve 116 is mounted around the rod 113 for rotation thereabout, and a small gear 130 is coaxially secured to the sleeve 116 within the housing 110. Outside the housing 110, an arm 121 is fixed to the sleeve 116 for cranking motion by means of a crank handle 122 journalled on a pin 123. Suitable bushings, etc., corresponding to those of the tool of FIGS. 1 and 2 are employed.

The shaft 129, mounted for rotation in the front and rear faces of the housing 110 extends parallel to the rod 113 and carries a gear 120 that is considerably larger than the gear 130. The gear has many more teeth than the small gear and the teeth of the two gears are in meshing relationship so that turning the arm 121 rotates the gear 120 in the opposite direction.

The shaft 129 extends forwardly of the housing 110 to terminate in a socket fitting 131 for engaging a lug nut. This socket 131 and two other sockets 133, one of the latter being shown in FIG. 8, can be suitably arranged and attached as indicated by the description above of the embodiments previously discussed.

It will be understood that for many applications the modified embodiment of the tool shown in FIG. 8 will, because of the much greater mecahnical advantage provided by its gear arrangement, be preferable to the tool shown in FIGS. 1 and 2. Turning the crank arm 121 through a large arc will only rotate the socket 131 by a small arcuate extent, but this can be necessary and sufficient to disengage a very tightly frozen nut.

Although presently preferred embodiments of the tool of the invention have been illustrated it will be understood that modifications and substitutions of parts or materials can be made within the spirit and scope of the invention. There could be a different number of stabilizing sockets than the two illustrated and various kinds of bearings could be employed in connection with the moving parts. What has been described is a useful hand operated tool for loosening or tightening lug nuts.

What is claimed is:

1. A tool for loosening or tightening of lug nuts such as those of vehicle wheels comprising a tool body, a rotatable socket member on a shaft extending forwardly from said tool body, means for rotating said shaft and said rotatable socket member, and two stabilizing socket elements, fixed in position during operation and extending forwardly of said tool body so that when the rotatable socket member engages a lug nut said stabilizing socket elements engage other lug nuts to stabilize the position of the tool during operation, said rotatable socket member having a hexagonal-shaped socket for receiving a hexagonal lug nut and said tool body having spaced, parallel, flat front and rear faces.

2. The tool of claim 1 wherein each of said stabilizing socket elements comprises a lug receiving head and a stud secured to said tool body, said studs extending parallel to said shaft.

3. The tool of claim 1 wherein a fixed handle extends rearwardly of said tool body for stabilizing the tool.

4. The tool of claim 1 wherein said shaft is mounted on an arm extending outwardly from said tool body, and said stabilizing socket elements are on arms extending outwardly and forwardly from said tool body.

5. The tool of claim 4 wherein the tool body carries means for adjustment of the angular relationship of said arms.

6. The tool of claim 1 wherein each of said socket members is detachably mounted by means of a screw.

7. A tool for loosening or tightening of lug nuts such as those of vehicle wheels comprising a tool body formed as a housing, a rotatable socket member on a shaft extending forwardly from said tool body, means for rotating said shaft and said rotatable socket member including crank arm means on a rod extending rearwardly of said housing, said crank arm being secured to a sleeve rotatably mounted on said rod, said sleeve carrying a relatively large gear within said housing, said large gear being in driving relationship with a relatively smaller gear within said housing and on said shaft whereby turning of said crank arm rotates said rotatable socket member, and two stabilizing socket elements extending forwardly of said tool body so that when the rotatable socket member engages a lug nut said stabilizing socket elements engage other lug nuts to stabilize the position of the tool during operation.

8. A tool for loosening or tightening of lug nuts such as those of vehicle wheels comprising a tool body formed as a housing, a rotatable socket member on a shaft extending forwardly from said tool body, means for rotating said shaft and said rotatable socket member including crank arm means on a rod extending rearwardly of said housing and coupled to gear means for driving said rotatable socket member, said gear means comprising a relatively large gear mounted on said shaft and a relatively smaller gear mounted on a sleeve, said sleeve extending rearwardly of said housing around said rod, said crank arm extending perpendicularly from said sleeve, and two stabilizing socket elements extending forwardly of said tool body so that when the rotatable socket member engages a lug nut said stabilizing socket elements engage other lug nuts to stabilize the position of the tool during operation.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE CERTIFICATE OF CORRECTION PATENT NO. 1' 3,905,254 DATED September 16, 1975 INVENTOR(S) LEQNARD PALATNICK and ROBERT L. SHINER It is Certified that error appears in the above-identified patent and that said Letters Patent are hereby corrected as shown below: I

Col. 2, line 19, change "or" to ofline 56, insert -is after "which" and before "slidable".

Col. 5, line 9, "rotatably" second occurrence should read rotatable-.

Signed and Scaled this thirt Day of January1976 [SEAL] A ttesr:

RUTH C. MASON C. MARSHALL DANN Arresting Officer Commissioner nj'Parents and Trademarks 

1. A tool for loosening or tightening of lug nuts such as those of vehicle wheels comprising a tool body, a rotatable socket member on a shaft extending forwardly from said tool body, means for rotating said shaft and said rotatable socket member, and two stabilizing socket elements, fixed in position during operation and extending forwardly of said tool body so that when the rotatable socket membeR engages a lug nut said stabilizing socket elements engage other lug nuts to stabilize the position of the tool during operation, said rotatable socket member having a hexagonal-shaped socket for receiving a hexagonal lug nut and said tool body having spaced, parallel, flat front and rear faces.
 2. The tool of claim 1 wherein each of said stabilizing socket elements comprises a lug receiving head and a stud secured to said tool body, said studs extending parallel to said shaft.
 3. The tool of claim 1 wherein a fixed handle extends rearwardly of said tool body for stabilizing the tool.
 4. The tool of claim 1 wherein said shaft is mounted on an arm extending outwardly from said tool body, and said stabilizing socket elements are on arms extending outwardly and forwardly from said tool body.
 5. The tool of claim 4 wherein the tool body carries means for adjustment of the angular relationship of said arms.
 6. The tool of claim 1 wherein each of said socket members is detachably mounted by means of a screw.
 7. A tool for loosening or tightening of lug nuts such as those of vehicle wheels comprising a tool body formed as a housing, a rotatable socket member on a shaft extending forwardly from said tool body, means for rotating said shaft and said rotatable socket member including crank arm means on a rod extending rearwardly of said housing, said crank arm being secured to a sleeve rotatably mounted on said rod, said sleeve carrying a relatively large gear within said housing, said large gear being in driving relationship with a relatively smaller gear within said housing and on said shaft whereby turning of said crank arm rotates said rotatable socket member, and two stabilizing socket elements extending forwardly of said tool body so that when the rotatable socket member engages a lug nut said stabilizing socket elements engage other lug nuts to stabilize the position of the tool during operation.
 8. A tool for loosening or tightening of lug nuts such as those of vehicle wheels comprising a tool body formed as a housing, a rotatable socket member on a shaft extending forwardly from said tool body, means for rotating said shaft and said rotatable socket member including crank arm means on a rod extending rearwardly of said housing and coupled to gear means for driving said rotatable socket member, said gear means comprising a relatively large gear mounted on said shaft and a relatively smaller gear mounted on a sleeve, said sleeve extending rearwardly of said housing around said rod, said crank arm extending perpendicularly from said sleeve, and two stabilizing socket elements extending forwardly of said tool body so that when the rotatable socket member engages a lug nut said stabilizing socket elements engage other lug nuts to stabilize the position of the tool during operation. 